S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm (2001), S.H.E has recorded 12 albums with sales totalling over 4.5 million, and set ticketing records in each of their two concert tours. The group has acted in seven drama series, hosted two variety shows, and contributed 10 songs to six drama soundtracks. S.H.E has endorsed more than 30 companies and products, including Coca-Cola and World of Warcraft. Thanks largely to S.H.E's success, other Taiwanese record labels began forming their own girl groups.
In 2000, Jen, Tien and Chen signed up for a singing contest, and the winner, Jen, was awarded a record contract. Tien and Chen, who were both finalists, joined Jen to form S.H.E. The trio frequently covers songs by other artists, and performs original compositions. The group produces albums under the HIM International Music label. Avex Asia distributed S.H.E's music in Hong Kong, but transferred this role to WOW Music in 2007. EMI Music China is the distributor in Singapore and the People's Republic of China.
BackgroundOn August 12, 2000, Taiwanese record label HIM International held open auditions, searching for new talent to complement Power Station. During the auditions, Taipei native Jen Chia-Hsüan sang Coco Lee's "Before I Fall in Love", Tien Fu-Chen, who hailed from Hsinchu, sang Shunza's "Write a Song" (traditional Chinese: 寫一首歌), and Chen Chia-Hwa, from Pingtung, sang Mayday's "Gentle and Soft" (traditional Chinese: 溫柔). All three were successful and were recommended to be included in the Universal Talent and Beauty Girl Contest. The preliminary rounds of the contest were held on August 20, 2000 in New York City. Entering the final preliminary round, Jen Chia-Hsüan was slated to sing Elva Hsiao's "The Closest Stranger" (Chinese: 最熟悉的陌生人); both Tien and Chen planned on singing Karen Mok's "Cloudy Sky" (traditional Chinese: 陰天). All three girls were successful again and secured three of seven spots in the TV round.
For the televised portion of the contest, to be aired on CTV's "TV Citizen", Tien Fu-Chen was scheduled to perform first, followed by Jen Chia-Hsüan. During the television round, each of the five judges would turn a light on if a singing flaw was identified — a total of three lights resulted in elimination. Jen Chia-Hsüan sang Christina Aguilera's "Reflection" with her singing flaws resulting in two lights. Tien Fu-Chen sang Kit Chan's "Loving You" (traditional Chinese: 喜歡你). Despite forgetting the majority of the lyrics, she received only two lights. Chen Chia-Hwa chose Rene Liu's "Afterwards" (traditional Chinese: 後來), but was eliminated after receiving four lights. At the end of the round, only four contestants remained, three of whom were Jen Chia-Hsüan, Tien Fu-Chen, and Chen Chia-Hwa. Among the four, the judges selected Jen as the winner, and awarded her a record contract with HIM International. Later that summer, HIM International contacted Chen and Tien, and asked both girls to audition once again. After a few test recordings, HIM signed both Chen Chia-Hwa and Tien Fu-Chen to record contracts.
Origin of the nameAfter recording the songs for their first album, the trio needed a name for the group. The company suggested several names, including H.B.O, Digi Girl, 3C Girls (Chinese: 3C美少女), and S.H.E Girl Friends (Chinese: S.H.E女朋友). The name Digi Girl would have reflected HIM's endorsement of Digimaster products, whereas H.B.O would have coincided with one of the songs on the girls' first album. HIM finally decided on S.H.E; as a result, Jen Chia-Hsüan became Selina, Tien Fu-Chen became Hebe, and Chen Chia-Hwa became Ella.
The group's name, S.H.E, was selected for two reasons. With the dots in S.H.E removed, the resulting word would emphasize the fact that S.H.E was a girl group; the dots symbolized individual differences with the three members. In addition, having an English name made the group more accessible to an international audience. However, there were concerns about how audiences would react to such a name; it was sufficiently similar to S.E.S., a then-established Korean girl group, that it was thought S.H.E might be labelled as plagiarists. As a result, HIM provided local audiences with an alternative Chinese name for their new group: 女朋友 (pinyin: nǚ péngyǒu; literally: "girl friends").
source: wikipedia
